ELKINS — Randolph County Schools Superintendent Dr. Shawn Dilly has assured the county Board of Education that a plan is in place to make sure there will be ample room for students at new schools if his multiple proposed consolidations take place.

During the “School Reorganization” section of the meeting, Dilly presented the BOE members with packets that included the floor plans and counts of students for each school.

“The concerns surrounding overcrowding and challenges in that regard, I think people are forgetting that we actually have classroom ratio requirements that we are required to meet currently,” Dilly said. “We’re not going to be changing those. There’s obviously some discussion surrounding modulars and other things. Yes, modulars have been discussed as some contingency options as we continue to look at things.”

Dilly said a modular trailer may be used at Third Ward Elementary School.

“When we were trying to navigate around (Third Ward) the modular unit was looked at,” Dilly said. “Not necessarily for classrooms, but for office spaces for speech and Title 1 and a variety of other folks like that. That was a contingency plan so that we would be prepared if things didn’t work the way we believed they would work based on calculations and counts that we have provided.”

Dilly then talked about the fifth-grade students that would be moving to Elkins Middle School as part of his closure and consolidation plan. He said the school district has submitted an SBA (School Building Authority) application for upgrades at the school.

“As you recall, for rooms 213 and 214, you have to actually go outside for those classrooms, so the SBA request that we put together was to close that in, making it an enclosed hallway that will be a better situation for those folks long term,” Dilly said. “We are optimistic about receiving that initial funding that will make those classrooms more accessible and safer for the situation in that arrangement.”

Dilly said because there are many unknowns with how things are going to fall into place if the closure and consolidations are approved, he has put together contingency plans for both Jennings Randolph and Beverly Elementary.

“I think unfortunately people run with a lot of side conversations related to contingency planning,” Dilly said. “But our goal is to minimize, if not exclude, any efforts to put modular units anywhere. But if we do find it necessary, we want to be prepared for that reality, and we’d be looking at purchasing rather than leasing something, because leasing is really throwing money away in the scheme of things.”

Dilly told the Board that a wall or two may have to be added at some of the elementary schools, especially with a plan already in place to make sure each school has an art teacher to work alongside already established music and physical education teachers.

“We need that third teacher (at the schools) to try and help support the planning periods and the needs of the school,” Dilly said. “So that is something we have been accounting for as well… There may be construction required because we have some spaces that are double rooms, so we may have to put up a wall here or there.

“For example, like at Jennings Randolph, we have the music space back there that is actually two classrooms. It’s the size of the gymnasium. It could actually be split in half, where half of it would be music and half would be the art classroom. Would it be ideal? No, but it’s a short term fix for hopefully getting us down the road until we get a large facility built to further consolidate.”

BOE member Sherri Collett asked Dilly, “So, there are no plans of construction within our current buildings?”

Dilly responded, “Nothing major, just the occasional wall, perhaps.”

Dilly said there would be minimum costs for any construction that took place at any of the schools due to Randolph County Schools’ maintenance staff doing the work that would be needed.

The BOE has set three hearing dates in October for the proposed closure of two K-12 schools and three elementary schools.

The first public hearing is slated for Oct. 8 and will be for the closing of Harman K-12 School and North Elementary School. If the proposal is approved, students from the two closed schools would be merged into Jennings Randolph Elementary School, Elkins Middle School, and Elkins High School.

The second hearing will be for the closing of Pickens K-12 School is set for Oct. 14. If the proposal passes, students from Pickens will be merged into George Ward Elementary and Tygarts Valley Middle/High School.

The third and final public hearing is for the closure of Coalton Elementary and Midland Elementary and is scheduled for Oct. 28. If the BOE approves the proposal, students from Coalton and Midland will be transferred to Third Ward Elementary and Beverly Elementary.

A “Save Our Rural Schools in Randolph County” protest is planned for Saturday, Sept. 27 from noon to 3 p.m. at the intersection of McDonald’s and Kroger in Elkins. Described by organizers as a peaceful, family-friendly event, residents are encouraged to attend and to let their voices be heard and demonstrate the importance of keeping local schools open.

The next regular Board of Education meeting is scheduled for Oct. 7 at 5:30 p.m. at the Central Office.